


A Scientist Will Always Be With You

by psychosomatic86



Series: Homecoming [1]
Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: (or based off of), Angst, Because I can and I will take any opportunity to do stuff like this, Debilitating sorrow, Fluff, Homecoming, I will make you cry, M/M, This will make you cry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-16
Updated: 2014-10-16
Packaged: 2018-02-21 08:35:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2461781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/psychosomatic86/pseuds/psychosomatic86
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's homecoming, a wonderful time to see friends and family, both living and deceased, but Cecil never suspected a certain someone to show up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Scientist Will Always Be With You

Cecil elbowed his way through the crowd of people embracing, crying, laughing, remembering…

He didn’t see her yet, and he was getting a bit anxious. It had been over an hour now and everyone would be leaving soon, the _gone_ would go back to whatever eternity they belonged to and the _still_ _here_ would go back to their mundane lives, pointless and fleeting, until they, too, joined the eternity of the universe.

“Excuse me.” He mumbled nudging through a very teary group, his heart tugging at the prospect of becoming one of them when he finally found her, when he would finally see her and embrace her, feel the comfort of a mother holding her son, as if he were still and child and she were still his loving parent, not yet gone on that _permanent_ business trip.

He wiped away a stray tear maneuvering his way through the throng of arms and legs, shouts and cries and cheers and _I love you’s_ and he imagined just how he would say those same words to her as he hugged and kissed her

“AH!” A foot suddenly protruded forward, catching his own and causing him to vault forward. He held his arms out to brace for harsh body to ground contact, but a hand suddenly grabbed him by the elbow, catching him mid fall and pulling him back to a standing position. Cecil quickly found his composure and looked up to thank whomever had just saved him.

He blinked, words stalling in his throat as he stared at the man that had caught him. A faint squeak was all he could muster as his brain tried to perceive who was before him, tried recall all the things he was supposed to say when he’d finally come home. He had run through his mind over and over exactly what he would say and do, but now that he was here, back in his time and his space, Cecil did not know how to react.

“Hi, Cecil.” The voice meek and beautiful joined with a timid wave.

“OH CARLOS!” Cecil flung his arms around his boyfriend’s neck, weeping. “Y-you’re BACK! H-how? Oh _Carlos_!!!”

Cecil buried his face in the scientist’s shoulder, his pristine lab coat becoming slightly stained from the salty tears, but Carlos didn’t care about such a trivial detail and, instead, held tightly to his love.

Cecil finally looked up and the scientist smiled down at him, though it held a hint of sadness that Cecil didn’t quite understand as to why it was there. But he didn’t care to think on it for the moment. All that mattered was that Carlos was back, he was _home_.

Cecil laced a hand into that perfect hair and pulled Carlos into a deep kiss, allowing himself to sink back into the scientist’s strong arms so that he dipped low to the ground, Carlos’ hands pressing into his backside.

_“Oh, Carlos.”_ Cecil murmured when the kiss broke. He buried his face in his lover's collar, never wanting to let go. He felt so safe, so reassured now that his Carlos was back, now that he would no longer be alone.

“I love you so much, Cecil.”

“I love you, too.” Cecil lifted his head, a wide smile playing on his face, illuminated by the fluorescent beams from the lights of the stadium. Carlos shook his head, and Cecil saw that he was crying. He reached a hand forward and wiped the tears away, rubbing gently as the scientist pushed against his hand in response to the touch.

“I really love you Cecil.” He murmured, the quiet words still somehow audible in the roar of the surrounding conversations. “I love you more than you can or will probably ever know. I really do.”

There it was again, that sad smile but Cecil still didn’t question it.

The radio host took his hand and held tight. “I will do my best to understand,” he lifted the scientist’s hand to his lips, kissing it lightly, “but I need you to promise me something in return.”

Carlos looked into those deep, violet eyes, doing his best to hold back his tears. “Of course, Cecil, anything, I will do anything for you.”

“Just promise me, sweet, darling Carlos, promise me that we will never again be parted.”

Carlos blinked slowly, the words ringing in his ears.

Cecil stared into his chocolate eyes. “Promise me, Carlos. Say we’ll always be together.”

Carlos gave a reassuring squeeze to his hand, nodding a yes, the lump in his throat preventing him from actually saying so.

And it was true, they _would_ be together forever, maybe not physically, maybe not in the sense that they would always see each other or feel each other, but they would always be together in each other’s minds. And in their hearts… they would  _always_ be together in each other’s hearts.

Cecil sighed in relief, pulling him to another kiss before taking his hand again to lead him through the crowd to somewhere they could be alone.

*

They talked for about a half hour before Cecil realized he still had yet to locate his mother.

He jumped from the bleachers, chattering excitedly to Carlos about how wonderful it would be that he could meet his mother, too, how great it would be to have the two people he loved most in his life together in the same place and the same time. Carlos said nothing, too focused on listening to wondrous sound of how joyous Cecil was.

“And even if she has to go back, tonight,” Cecil said, a bit gloomily as they made their way back into the crowd on the football field, “even though I won’t get to see her for another year, I still have you, Carlos.” He squeezed the scientist’s hand again, beaming from ear to ear as he gave him another kiss.

Carlos forced down another wave of sorrow, fighting back the tears that would only make this harder on Cecil and swallowing hard on the lump that had returned to his throat.

He halted and pulled Cecil close to him so that their bodies pressed tightly together, so their eyes locked, and their breaths became heavy, though not labored, so that their fingers held tightly to the other’s back.

“You will always have me, Cecil.” Carlos whispered, leaning in so that their foreheads touched, _“always.”_

He pressed their lips together and Cecil could swear he heard people cheering around him as if applauding their love. He held tighter to Carlos, his hand working it’s way up to grasp a handful of the scientist’s perfect hair, their lips locked tightly as if never wanting to separate.

Carlos pulled back gently, “We should go find your mother now.”

Cecil opened his eyes and let his hands slacken so they rested on the scientist’s shoulder. “Yes.” He agreed “there will be plenty of time for this later, anyway.”

He winked and knives stabbed into Carlos’ chest.

“Yes,” he lied, “there will be.”

*

It was the hardest decision Carlos had ever made, in both his life and afterlife.

As Cecil eagerly pulled him forward, smiling wide and talking about what he was going to do when he saw his mother, as he saw how happy he was and how just his presence had brought all of it, as he saw all of this, he let his hand go slack in Cecil’s grip.

It was mere minutes from the returning time for the “gone” and he did not want to see Cecil’s face when the realization dawned on him.

And so, he let go.

He slowed his pace as he began to feel the strange tingle that meant his time was now limited to maybe a few more minutes, let his hand slide gently from his lover’s, let their fingertips linger for a second before finally breaking all contact and shrinking back into the crowd so he was certain Cecil would not see him go.

*

Cecil immediately felt when he lost his hold on Carlos’ hand and he quickly whipped around so he could reestablish the contact.

His eyes scanned the crowd behind him but he did not see the scientist anywhere. He pushed back through where they had just come, the crowd thinning considerably and called out his name.

Frantic eyes darted around but caught no familiar glimpses anywhere. He was just beginning to panic when a several people vanished from a throng to his left and he saw him, simply standing with his eyes closed and his arms slack by his sides.

“Carlos!” He called as he raced toward him.

The scientist looked up and Cecil nearly stopped dead in his tracks when he saw.

_No._

He ran faster, his eyes already blinded by tears and the sudden truth that had crashed around him.

_Maybe it was just the light playing off of his lab coat._

But it wasn’t and he already knew that long before he reached the scientist. He already knew the horrible, horrible truth and it seared through his chest as he embraced his love, crying into the slowly vanishing form.

_“C-Carlos…”_

_“Shhh…”_ Carlos cooed, holding tightly, forcing himself to remain in existence for just a few moments more, tears pouring silently from his eyes.

_“It’s alright, Cecil, it will all be fine.”_

_“But, you s-said we were going to be together forever!”_ Cecil lifted his head to look at the flickering image of his one and only love. _“Y-you promised!”_

Carlos knew he would be gone very soon and so he simply brushed a tender kiss onto his lover’s trembling lips. 

_“And I will keep that promise because I will always be with you Cecil. As long as you remember me and hold me in your heart, I will always be with you.”_

The world around him flickered and returned but he knew he only had seconds left. He wiped the tears from his love’s eyes and whispered one last time, _“I will always be with you.”_

_“Always.”_

**Author's Note:**

> I cried while writing this if that's any consolation. :'(


End file.
